Statement of Faith

At More to Be, our theology and life application is founded in these truths:

THE TRIUNE GOD
We believe that there is one living and true God as revealed in Scripture, existing eternally in three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit — each of Whom possess equally the same nature, all the attributes of Deity and the characteristics of personality, and are equally worthy of the same glory, honor and obedience. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7, 45:21-22; John 4:24; Acts 5:3-4; 1 Corinthians 8:4)

1. God the Father
In the beginning, God created the world and all the things therein out of nothing through His Son, Jesus Christ thus manifesting the glory of His power, wisdom and goodness according to His own will. By His sovereign power, He continues to sustain His creation, and by His providence, He orders the affairs of men and nations according to His own wise, eternal plan. God the Father is neither the author nor approver of sin and holds all mankind accountable for their sin. God concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of mankind and saves from sin all whom He draws to faith in Jesus Christ. (Genesis 1; Psalm 145:8-9; Isaiah 46:9-10; Romans 8:14; 11:34-36; Ephesians 3:9; 4:6; Colossians. 1:15-17; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Hebrews 1:1-3)

2. The Person and Work of Jesus Christ 
Jesus Christ is the eternal second Person of the triune Godhead, who was united forever with a true human nature by a miraculous conception and virgin birth. He lived a sinless life of perfect obedience to the Father and voluntarily paid the penalty for the sins of mankind by dying on the cross. This substitutionary death (the just dying for the unjust) satisfied God’s justice and accomplished salvation for all who trust in Him alone. Christ rose from the dead in the same body (now glorified) in which He lived and died. He ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father. There He continually makes intercession for His own people as the only Mediator between God and man. He shall personally come again to earth in visible form to consummate history and the eternal plan of God. He has instituted two ordinances — baptism and the Lord’s Supper — as visible symbols bearing witness to His saving work.  (Matthew 1:21; John 1:1, 1:14; 14:8-9; Colossians 1:15-20; 1 Timothy 3:16; Revelation 19:1-21)

3. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit 
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the triune Godhead. He has come into the world to reveal and glorify Jesus Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ in mankind. Through the conviction of sin, He causes sinners to recognize their need for a savior, draws them to Jesus and imparts new spiritual life to them. At the moment of spiritual birth, He baptizes believers into the body of Christ and gives spiritual gifts to them. He permanently indwells every believer, providing assurance of salvation, strength, wisdom and guidance. (John 14:16-17; 16:7-15; Romans 8:9-17; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 12:4-5, 12:12-15; Titus 3:5)

THE BIBLE
The sole basis of our belief is the Bible. We believe that the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments in their entirety originated with God, are God’s self-disclosure to mankind, and that they were written by chosen men who were superintended by the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Scriptures both speak with the authority of God and reflect the backgrounds, styles and vocabularies of the human authors and are to be interpreted according to historical-grammatical context. We hold the Scriptures to be the final and sufficient authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, and that there are no other such writings inspired by God. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

MANKIND
We believe that God created mankind—male and female—in His own image and likeness, free of sin, to glorify Himself and enjoy His fellowship. Tempted by Satan, but in the sovereign plan of God, man freely chose to disobey God, bringing sin, death and condemnation to all mankind. All human beings, therefore, are totally depraved by nature and by choice. Alienated from God without defense or excuse, and subject to God’s righteous wrath, all of mankind is in desperate need of the Savior. (Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 1:18, 1:32; 3:10-19)

SALVATION
God’s purpose in salvation (as revealed in Scripture) is to restore mankind to a right relationship with Him. Although mankind was created uniquely in the image of God and enjoyed perfect fellowship with the Father, he disobeyed God, and was thus alienated from God. With this separation from God, mankind experienced death and the corruption of his nature. All mankind since has suffered these consequences and, therefore, is in need of the saving grace of God. Our salvation is wholly a work of God’s free grace, not the result, in whole or in part, of human works or goodness, and is appropriated by faith alone. This salvation requires an individual acknowledgment of sin and a recognition that the penalty for that sin was paid for by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. This act of salvation therefore transfers our trust from ourselves and our own merits or works to a trust in Christ and his substitutionary death as the only means of salvation. Genuine faith continues in obedience and love for Jesus Christ with a life eager to glorify God and persevere to the end. (Genesis 3; Romans. 3:23; 5:8; 6:23; 1 Peter. 3:18)

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
Assurance of salvation is available to all those who are born of the Spirit. This assurance is produced by the Holy Spirit and is not based on any human merit. Growth toward spiritual maturity and holiness of life and conduct occurs progressively in the life of the believer as s/he is exposed to and applies the truth of Scripture to daily life. The believer lives in the power of the indwelling Spirit so as not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh, and assembles regularly with God’s people for worship, spiritual growth and encouragement. The believer bears witness by word and deed to the person of Jesus Christ, thus obeying His final commandment — to extend the Gospel throughout the world and to disciple people of every nation. (Matthew 28:18-19; Galatians 5:16-23; 1 John 5:13)

PRAYER
While God communicates to us in various ways, prayer is the primary way we communicate with God. It is active, in that we put forth intellectual and verbal effort. It is spiritual, in that it is a direct link to God Himself. It is comprehensive, in that God invites us to bring all requests to Him (Phil. 4:6-7). It is supernatural, in that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us (Rom. 8:26). Prayer is commanded by God (I Thess. 5:17), taught by Jesus (Matt. 6:9-13), modeled in Scripture (Psalm 63:1-8), powerful in application (Matt. 7:7-8) and pleasing to God (Rev. 5:8). We can have confidence as we pray, when praying according to His will (1 John 5:14). We are only able to pray because of God’s grace and mercy to us (Dan. 9:18).

MARRIAGE
God ordained marriage and the family as the foundational institutions of human society. Therefore, the only legitimate marriage is a sacred and permanent covenant relationship between one man and one woman, symbolizing the union of Christ and His church. The husband is to be the servant leader in the home and is to love his wife as Christ loves the church, and the wife is to submit herself to the leadership of her husband as the church submits to the headship of Christ (Genesis 2:18-25; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:22-25). God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity is to be engaged in outside of the marriage of a man and a woman. Any form of sexual activity prohibited in Scripture is a sinful perversion of God’s gift of sex and a violation of God’s Word.  (Genesis 2:22-24. 19:5, 19:13; Leviticus 18:1-30; Matthew 19:4-6; Romans 1:26-29, 7:2; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:9; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 5:22-23; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4)

HUMAN DESTINY
For all people there awaits a resurrection of the body and a future judgment. At physical death, those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ enter immediately into eternal, conscious fellowship with their Lord, while those who have rejected Him enter into eternal, conscious separation from Him. The bodies of all believers will be raised or transformed into eternal, spiritual bodies, which completes God’s work of salvation of the whole person — spirit, soul and body. Believers will be judged by Jesus Christ with regard to their faithfulness and quality of life, and will be rewarded accordingly. The bodies of nonbelievers will also be raised, but to a destiny of eternal condemnation. God’s judgment of nonbelievers confirms His holiness and justice in that mankind is allowed to perpetuate in eternity their rejection of God. (John 5:28-29; 2 Corinthians 5:8-11; Revelation 20:11-15)

THE CHURCH
We believe that upon placing one’s faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, the believer is made part of the Body of Christ, the one universal Church, of which Jesus Christ is the Head. The Scriptures command believers to gather locally in order to devote themselves to worship, prayer, teaching of the Word, fellowship, the ordinances of baptism and communion, service to the local body through the development and use of talents and spiritual gifts, and outreach to the world to make disciples. Wherever God’s people meet regularly in obedience to this command, there is the local expression of the Church under the watchful care of a plurality of elders. A church’s members are to work together in love and unity, intent on the ultimate purpose of glorifying Christ. (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:42-46; 1 Corinthians 12; 14:26; Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:16; Hebrews 10:25)

BAPTISM AND COMMUNION
The ordinance of Baptism by a burial with Christ should be observed as commanded in the Scriptures by all who have repented and in their hearts have believed in Christ as Savior and Lord. In so doing, they have the body washed in pure water as an outward symbol of cleansing, while their heart has already been sprinkled with the Blood of Christ as an inner cleansing. Thus they declare to the world that they have died with Christ and that they have also been raised with Him to walk in newness of life. Baptism by immersion best pictures this reality and is the preferred method; however, the mode of baptism is not a test of fellowship or proof of saving faith. Therefore, while immersion is encouraged, sprinkling is acceptable (Matthew 28:19; Acts 10:47-48, 20:21; Romans 6:4; Hebrews 10:22). The Lord’s Supper is the united commemoration by believers of Christ’s death until He comes and must be preceded by a careful self-examination. (Acts 2:41-42; Romans 6:3-6; 1 Corinthians 11:20-29)

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